Mayor of London opens Southwark Construction Skills Centre

14 September 2016

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan joined Southwark Labour councillors and future house builders at the opening of the Southwark Construction Skills Centre at Elephant and Castle.

The £1m centre will be a hub for construction training excellence in London and will focus on providing young Londoners with an opportunity to secure local construction jobs, while also tackling the industry skills shortage.

Up to 1,000 people will be trained in the Skills Centre each year, which was delivered in partnership between Southwark Council and developer Lendlease. The centre is housed at Elephant Park, at the heart of one of the country’s largest regeneration sites at Elephant and Castle.

Cllr Peter John, Leader of Southwark Council, said: “Southwark Council is proud to be paving the way to create a borough of builders ready to work on a range of construction sites all over London, the country and even the world.

“With our own commitment to building 11,000 new council homes as well as the regeneration schemes on Elephant and Castle, Canada Water, Old Kent Road and Aylesbury, we are seeing a significant level of construction work planned or currently being undertaken in the borough over the coming years, which is why Southwark has created this innovative new centre that will train local people to take advantage of the jobs being created on their doorstep through these regeneration programmes.”

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “We know that fixing the housing crisis won’t happen overnight and we know how important it is that we tackle the skills shortage in the construction industry. That is why it is crucial we get better at responding to the needs of the housing sector, whilst putting productivity front and centre.

“It was fantastic to meet London’s future homebuilders today and I am now even more determined to push on with a pledge to lead a new skills agenda for London. That means actively investing to open up new opportunities for young Londoners to make sure together with businesses they get the skills they need to help build the new and affordable homes London so desperately needs.”